A Bucks County education board and association have worked together to ratify an agreement that will have an impact on local students. Staff reporters from the Lower Bucks Times wrote about the agreement.

The Bensalem Township board of school directors and the 461-member Bensalem Township Education Association have ratified a five-year collective bargaining agreement. The contract was ratified by members of the BTEA on September 16 and unanimously approved during the school board meeting on September 28.

The BTEA and board started negotiations this spring as part of an “early bird” agreement. The talks were cordial and mutually productive.

The agreement represents the partnership between the board, district, and members that focuses on the support of the students and community they serve. Both sides emphasized recruitment and retention of the best teachers for Bensalem’s children.

The agreement will last from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2028.

“The passing of this five-year collective bargaining agreement will help both retention and recruitment in Bensalem, but most importantly the passing of this five-year agreement will help the students that we educate and the community in which they live in,” said BTEA president George Daka.

According to the agreement, the new starting salary for the 2023-24 school year for a member possessing a bachelor’s degree is $51,952.

Read more about the contract in the Lower Bucks Times.